Ideas & Suggestions for the future of the MMOC

[aupickup]

i really dont think the idea of a reduced fee
so do we do a reduced fee for the unemployed as well, those on low incomes etc

[bigginger]

Apparently not, just for pensioners...
a

[Judge]

I'm only talking about the service demo.

[aupickup]

yes and some pensioners are a darn site better off than us that work

[Judge]

To bring this back onto topic, I have just remembered another suggestion that I have made previously, and still feel is valid i.e. the posting of MMOC Committee Meeting Minutes on this Messageboard. It seems that a number of Clubs now do this, and I believe that it is in the best interests of the members.

[aupickup]

sorry

how about putting the club spares online

[Judge]

I've already mentioned that one. Perhaps tomorrow I will do a resume on the suggestions contained in this thread

[Sidney'61]

im not sure that the hoodie is the sort of image that the club is looking for.

Ok, maybe the hoodies won't sell as well as i thought but this 'image' of which you speak is just the stereotypical view of young people, just because you wear this comfortable but modern style of clothing doesn't automatically make you some sort of anti-social disgrace, i think that this may be the view that is driving us young people away from the club.

[les]

I haven't waded through all these pages so excuse me if its been mentioned, but can anyone, who is in the know, say if the membership has fallen of late, or in fact risen?

[Judge]

Unless things have changed recently, membership is falling

[LouiseM]

Roughly how many members are there? Anyone know?

[mal]

Unless things have changed recently, membership is falling

I'm not surprised with all this talk of age, image etc;
anyone can drive whatever car they like between the ages of 17 & 80.... so what's the problem, just lets all enjoy driving our cars
I for one am sick of hearing about all this

Mal

[ASL642]

ditto!

[theminorsite]

Unless things have changed recently, membership is falling

I'm not surprised with all this talk of age, image etc;
anyone can drive whatever car they like between the ages of 17 & 80.... so what's the problem, just lets all enjoy driving our cars
I for one am sick of hearing about all this

Mal

And I dont think you're alone there Mal. But if I remember rightly the decline in membership has been going on slightly longer than this thread! For the poster asking about numbers, my memory aint perfick but I think we're roughly at 12 thousand members now, versus about seventeen and a half thousand a decade ago.
Reasons for that? Well, you pays yer money and you takes yer choice

[Judge]

Unless things have changed recently, membership is falling

I'm not surprised with all this talk of age, image etc;
anyone can drive whatever car they like between the ages of 17 & 80.... so what's the problem, just lets all enjoy driving our cars
I for one am sick of hearing about all this

Mal

But what you must remember Mal, and please don't misunderstand as I do agree with you, we are of approximately the same age.

This thread was started for exactly the reason that membership is falling, and I posted it simply to get peoples views on how this could be stemmed. In fact something I had been requested to do by the Club itself.

My own feeling is that if the committee took a more proactive view and utilised this board and the views of its younger, but not exclusively, members, concerns over falling numbers may become a thing of the past.

If something is not done, and please remember the recent increase in Club subscriptions, there may not be a Club at all.

[aupickup]

so is the falling numbers a reflection of the falling number of minors ? or spare parts available ?

i know quite a few minors round my way that were in the main club but have dropped out for one reason or another

i think some used to join to get a better deal on insurance , but these days you can get a better insurance deal away from the club insurers

is it because the older age groups have given up their minors?

maybe its because the club is not moving with the times maybe?

the internet has taken a grip on this i am sure, there is more involvement on this board than many of the branches i am sure, and of course you do not have to be a member of the main club to join in on this message board

there is no doubt the morris minor will continue to be used on the road, falling membership or not

for me personally the club is the message board and i agree tat the committe should take a more active part in the message board,

young members are the ones that can only keep this going when we are gone
they are the ones that will make the changes in the future
we need this younger outlook at committee stage of that i am sure
do the younger ones still see the club in the 70`s era i wonder ( tho i liked those years)

there is a club in sussex (not in the mmoc) that is better than the mmoc branch down my way
they have a rally on the 11th and 12th of may it will be a good event
have other areas experienced this i wonder and could this be another reason for some of the drop off in membership

these veiws are not meant to criticise the club, just from my point of veiw

[HarryMango]

the internet has taken a grip on this i am sure, there is more involvement on this board than many of the branches i am sure, and of course you do not have to be a member of the main club to join in on this message board

You also do not need to belong to the MMOC to turn up to a branch meeting - I know of many branches where this is the case and 1 that has more non members than members!

Certainly in the Leicester Branch and East Midlands we try to activly seek out local owners at events we attend or if we see them locally - of course we try to get them to join the MMOC but they are welcome to the branch whatever - very few come and it has to be said the ones that do are not the so called "younger members"

Rog

[aupickup]

interesting that harry

so the club some how must find a way of getting the younger members and others to join

but it has to be said that a lot of people do not join clubs, they just want to do their own thing

is the national rally a bit old hat for the below 30`s maybe

my reason for going to the national is to meet up with the website guys and gals
the other things happening there do not really hold my attention
like i said before i prefer the events that i go to to have more than just morris minors
maybe the club should really take on this and find venues that would seriously appeal to the younger ones and more family orientated maybe

what about places like longleat as an example where there is more to do than just look at a house and morris minors

[coogee]

what about places like longleat as an example where there is more to do than just look at a house and morris minors

That sounds like a very good idea, i would go!

Phil

[theminorsite]

Unless things have changed recently, membership is falling

I'm not surprised with all this talk of age, image etc;
anyone can drive whatever car they like between the ages of 17 & 80.... so what's the problem, just lets all enjoy driving our cars
I for one am sick of hearing about all this

Mal

But what you must remember Mal, and please don't misunderstand as I do agree with you, we are of approximately the same age.

This thread was started for exactly the reason that membership is falling, and I posted it simply to get peoples views on how this could be stemmed. In fact something I had been requested to do by the Club itself.

My own feeling is that if the committee took a more proactive view and utilised this board and the views of its younger, but not exclusively, members, concerns over falling numbers may become a thing of the past.

If something is not done, and please remember the recent increase in Club subscriptions, there may not be a Club at all.

Couldn't agree more, really, and I also think that stifling any criticism via 'Rule 9' and pretending that nothing is amiss is a bit short-sighted. I get the idea that the messageboard is still only here 'on sufferance' and that the committee would be much happier if they could dispense with it simply because it cant be 'stage managed', a la Minor Matters which is known outside the Minor club as never printing anything negative!

In regard to the branch-v-national club level point that has cropped up in recent posts, Lincolnshire obviously have a different view to Leicester on that - Lincs thinks that you actually cant be a member unless you are also a member of the national club. I wonder if thats something thats set at a regional rather than national level?